Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Welcome! Here's a quick rundown before I start doing this properly

Okay, so I'm really bad at blogging, and I'm pretty bad at keeping something like this going... But I'm going to try it. This is going to be a blog for my Gundam (or Gunpla, as it's called) Models, and their progress, I'm unsure of how blogger, or blogspot or whatever works. but I'm sure it's a much more respectable format than using tumblr to keep an active log of my builds. SO WITH THAT SAID, I suppose I'll jump right into it. I've been building gunpla models for a long time, Since I was a kid and Gundam Wing was on the air here in the US. I lost interest around the time Gundam Seed came out, and have recenly gotten re-involved with the hobby. The only difference is this time, I have decided I wanted to take a more mature approach to the hobby. So I shopped around online and decided if I was going to do this seriously I'd better re-familiarize myself with the hobby, things have likely changed some since I had done any of this. So I bought two little HG kits to start off with, and I had next to no hobby supplies. My first kit came out... not so great, but it's a learning experience.

Next was the other HG, obviously. This time armed with a Gundam marker and a little better grasp of what I was doing, I knocked out this:

Next I ordered a couple new hobby supplies, as well as a couple newer HG kits, and for me, now each kit I try to raise the bar a little. After properly panel lining, using cement, cutting nub marks off, and even a tiny bit of painting, my final result came out a little like this:

My next project was the RX-78-2 starter set, which realistically, I probably should have started with. It even came with it's own panel lining marker, and was a really nice kit overall. I really recommend it for anybody looking to start out. For this kit, I tossed the sticker sheet, and opted for an all paint/gundam marker approach. no stickers. The end result is STILL one of my favorite builds to date. It came out way better than I could have imagined, and despite being a HG 1/144 kit, it looks great on the shelf.

Next I put a couple other kits under my belt, and then, I began painting small details, even ones that get covered up. The piping under the Zaku II's backpack for example.

the final product.

next I decided to paint even more little details, and generally just start improving my technique. develop a steady hand. start planning a little ahead before doing something.

the tiny thrusters on the back of the legs.

the pistons for the cockpit hatch, as well as the chest vulcans and the vents on the front of the torso.

and then a bunch more tiny details, combined with the amazing design in real grade kits. and the decal set. the realtouch markers for my panel lines, and lots of patience... it came out way better than I'd expected..

And that is pretty much where I'm at right now. I've got a couple of projects that I'm working on right now. and I'll be posting about those in the near future, along with some work in progress posts, and perhaps even some tutorials on the process I go through. I hope people actually read this and can take something from it, and I hope anybody that does read it enjoys it and bookmarks it, or shares me out a little. This is an awesome hobby, and a ton of fun once you get into the swing of it. I love how much you can do with these little kits, and a little extra work goes a long way. So, I guess thanks if you checked this out, and read this far. I'll probably throw another post up tomorrow, touching on my Age-1 Titus progress, and I might give my Astray Blue Frame some spotlight too. Thanks again to anybody who read all this nonsense. See ya!